TORONTO – Ontario’s attorney general is proposing to get rid of fixed election dates in the province, in a set of election finance reforms that would also see the limit for political donations raised to $5,000 and make public funding for political parties permanent.
Doug Downey says the province intends to do away with what he calls “American-style” fixed election dates.
Under those rules, enacted about 20 years ago by then-premier Dalton McGuinty, the next provincial vote would have taken place in 2029, but Downey says without them Ontario would be “better positioned to respond to changing circumstances and external threats.”
Even with fixed dates, governments were free to call elections sooner, as Premier Doug Ford did earlier this year when he triggered a vote in February — earlier than the June fixed date — by saying he needed a new mandate to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats.
The upcoming legislative changes would also increase the annual amount a person can donate to a political party from $3,400 to $5,000 starting next year and would tie future increases to the rate of inflation.
As well, the government plans to make a quarterly per-vote subsidy to political parties permanent, after the Progressive Conservative government passed a law shortly before this year’s election call to extend it temporarily until 2027.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2025.
Note to readers:This is a corrected story. A previous version said legislation had already been tabled.
